Friday, March 29, 2013

TSA Week in Review: A Look at Some of the More Interesting Items our Officers Found This Week

Replica Grenade (CLT)

Inert
Ordnance and Grenades etc. - We continue to find inert hand grenades and other
weaponry on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a
realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these
items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause
significant delays in checkpoint screening. I know they are cool novelty items,
but you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here and here on why
inert items cause problems.

There
were two separate incidents this week at Seattle (SEA) where inert items used for
training (not TSA) about explosives were discovered in checked baggage.
Electric detonators were discovered in one incident, and a block of inert C4
with duct tape and wires protruding in another. These items are never permitted
on commercial aircraft. Other preparations must be made to have your training
aids at your destination.

A
replica WWII German “Potato Masher” grenade was discovered in checked baggage
at Charlotte (CLT). It was a gift for the passenger’s son. I would have loved
to have had one of these when I was a kid. But… a commercial airliner is not
the right place to transport anything that looks like a real grenade.

32Firearms
Discovered This Week – of the 32 firearms, 27 were loaded and five had
rounds chambered. See a complete
list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

Loaded Pistol (DEN)

Ammunition – Ammo is ok to
be transported within checked baggage as long as you follow the proper
guidelines, but it is never permitted in carry-on baggage. Here are a
couple of photos of ammunition our officers found in carry-on bags this week.

Stun
Guns
– Ten stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation.
Two were discovered at San Francisco (SFO), and the others at Atlanta
(ATL), Burlington (BTV), Denver (DEN), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Kansas City
(MCI), Mercedita (PSE), New York LaGuardia (LGA), and San Diego (SAN).

What Not to Say at an Airport – Statements like these not only delay the
people who said them but can also inconvenience many other passengers if the
checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:

A
passenger flying out of San Juan told the ticket agent that her bag contained a
bomb and she was going to blow up the plane. After it was all said and done,
her bag didn’t have a bomb, but as a result of her threat, the ticket counter,
checkpoint, and terminal were closed for nearly an hour. There were
consequences.

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why
we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our
officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item,
the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent
ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can
face a penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to
please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an
individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had
these items.

*In order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a
preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from
what I report in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or
end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be
estimates.

35 comments:

How stupid can some people be! TSA Agents are not stupid people. They are trained to look for the illegal that people try to carry on a plane. And, it's all for the safety of ALL of the passengers. Smarten up people, and stop wasting our time!

RE: As always, more non-issues. two separate incidents... inert items... discovered in checked baggage. So, inert (fake, not real, thus NOT A THREAT) items in CHECKED luggage (thus, passenger has no access to them so, NOT A THREAT). replica WWII German “Potato Masher” grenade was discovered in checked baggage. Same here- it wasn't real (NOT a threat), and was CHECKED (NOT a threat). There were consequences. Not for the TSA, who continues to ignore issues with theft and other bad behavior in its ranks._________________________________And before they open the bag to conduct screening the TSA somehow knows they are already fake? Really that is some highly advanced technology the TSA has? Come on man find something legitimate to gripe about, please! The TSA ignores issues with bad behavior? Nobody is held accountable for their actions? Geez man the TSA needs a crystal ball so they can tell who is going to commit bad behavior next. Well in fact if they get that crystal ball pass it on to every other government and private entity!

SSSS for some reason said... OK, you are back up to your regular 30~ish guns. Too bad you didn't find any terrorists. Or anything with the fancy nudie-scanners either. Bummer on that._________________________________The TSA can thank you I guess for the commendations on finding 30-ish, I personally think one is enough! Those scanners at the airport, do humans still see the image produced? NO! LOL! I am glad the deterrent is working, keep up the good work TSA!

You forgot to mention the story about 3 TSA screeners fired and 23 suspended at Newark Airport. According to the news story..."The alleged screening failures were uncovered late in 2011 after surveillance cameras were installed in one of the airport's 25 screening rooms to check for possible thefts."

If a local business fired or suspended that many employees at once, that business would loose all credibility. Moreover, it took well over a year to take action with these employees.

Does the TSA really hold its employees to the highest ethical standards? Why would any taxpaying American trust the TSA with their personal privacy or private property?

Anonymous said... What? No mention of the laser pointer, er pepper spray, one of your totally awesome mind reading officers found and used to assault 5 of his colleagues and send to the hospital?________________________________You say purposely assaulted, I will be to differ?http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085K0BVU?&tag=shopwiki-us-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325Do you think about what the pepper spray container may look like? Or has critical thinking gone out the window and you only look to vilify?

I understand the procedure for transporting a firearm in checked baggage but what is the correct procedure for transporting an air soft gun or a bb gun that looks like a firearm but isn't? Do you declare it as if it were a firearm or do you say nothing?

Evidently, the TSA fired Raymond Ware back in 2003, "claiming he failed a certification test, but managers refused to show him the results of the test". So, he sued and got his job back. Along with a half-million dollars of back pay. Good going, TSA- you're not just satisfied with making up stuff about passengers, but you actually make stuff up about your own employees!!

But it gets better!

He "was let go along with 35 other TSA employees in 2011 after an investigation revealed that for several months, some officers failed to hand-screen checked baggage for explosives at Honolulu International Airport."

35 "officers" at ONE airport? Makes one think the "we only fired 400 screeners, nationwide, in 10 years" thing is... a lie. But whatever. At least the TSA was doing something, Right?

Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing:"He was the only one of 36 TSA employees fired in the baggage-checking case who was denied unemployment because the TSA contested it." (He was also the only Black.)

"An administrative judge with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board ruled earlier this month Ware should be reinstated to his $89,000-a-year job." ... and be given back pay, again, no doubt.

"Before an employee is fired, you need to know that that employee actually engaged in misconduct or knew of misconduct. Don't just decide that 'Oh, I'm gonna fire from the top up and make a big splash in the news and the media and show that we're really tough at TSA,'" his lawyer said.

Nice going, TSA. Just like with passenger screening, you go and do what you shouldn't, in order to APPEAR to be 'doing something', and fail to do what you should.

There sure were! With one simple statement, this person was able to "shut down the ticket counter, checkpoint, and terminal were closed for nearly an hour."

Why go through the trouble of actually making a bomb, when the always-falls-for-it TSA reacts to the mere word "bomb" the same as an actual bomb?

The TSA shut down the entire terminal, inconvenienced hundreds (thousands?) of people, and they brag about in this site as some kind of victory?

But of course, it is a victory.

For the terrorists.

Now, we know that there aren't really any terrorists. That there simply is no group of bloodthirsty killers out to down our planes (because sure as heck the TSA couldn't stop them if there were).

But let's pretend there are terrorists. What does a terrorist do? Most people think a terrorist is a bomber. Or a killer.

But terrorism isn't about killing your enemy. That's not necessarily the goal. Terrorism is about harming your enemy. And what better way to harm your enemy than to force them to create the TSA?

Think about it. One person, uttering one statement, caused the shutdown of an entire airport terminal. That's what we call a force multiplier! They didn't even need to build a real bomb to make the TSA overreact. They didn't even need to make a fake one! Just say the word, and the TSA keystone cops go into panic mode.

How many man hours lost, this time? How many productive hours were destroyed because the TSA treats every possibility like a RED MODE threat?

So what should the TSA have done, when someone declares they have a bomb in their bag? Arrest them. Cart that person and their belongs into a bombproof room. Charge them, if they really do have something.

But shutting down an entire terminal plays right into their hands. TSA yet again is fooled, and all of us are just a little bit worse off.

There are no terrorists trying to destroy our country. But if there were, they could ask for no better friend than the TSA.

".. Geez man the TSA needs a crystal ball so they can tell who is going to commit bad behavior next. "

Don't be absurd, crystal balls are so 15th Century in regards to technology.

You know what does work? Assuming that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Assuming that these finds, in checked baggage no less, are not terrorists 'testing the system' but are in fact someone taking items of interest (historical or otherwise) home after their trip.

If you have one of these grenade looking things in your carry-on then the TSA should give you some grief, but in checked bags? It is only in the movies that someone can take the elevator down to the luggage bay and retrieve their stash of grenades to try and hijack the airplane.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is Federal Law. Seems TSA fails to comply with this law among others.

Who determines is a medical liquid is necessary for a persons travel? TSA or the individual? Apparently at SFO is is not the individual but a FSD who chooses to not reveal themselves and sends out sock puppets enforce illegal TSA decisions.

If anyone needs to see the cowards of TSA then I ask that you view the video at the link below. Then ask TSA when detentions, medical decisions, and refusal to follow TSA policy became treating people with dignity and respect.

I am so amazed and shocked at the un-intelligence level of those individuals that think these are acceptable items to travel with?? Everyone of these people that are caught with these items should all be arrested and pay hefty fines for possibly subjecting the better public to this very serious global issue we have in today's times. TOTALLY UNEXCEPTABLE!

Is there any plan to announce on this blog that the TSA has finally (more than 18 months after being ordered to by a judge) begun the notice of rulemaking and public comment procedure the law required of the TSA before putting the whole-body imaging devices into service as a primary means of screening?

The notice is in the Federal Register here: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/03/26/2013-07023/passenger-screening-using-advanced-imaging-technology

And one of the ways for the public to provide comments is to fill out this form: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=TSA-2013-0004-0001

Steve Scottsdale said...Suppose a bad guy stands up in the front of the plane with a fake/not real but certainly real-looking hand grenade. Are you going to be the one to rush him to call his bluff?

Not now, NO. Because the TSA does a cra... really poor... job, and there's a good possibility it IS a real grenade.

If, on the other hand, the TSA was 'on the ball', professional, and actually had a good record of catching weapons/bombs, then YES, I would rush him... because it couldn't be real, or the TSA would have caught it.

If it's in checked baggage, maybe it'll be used at the destination away from the airport.

1) That's not the TSA's business2) ANYTHING in my luggage could, maybe, possibly, might be, used for illicit purposes away from the airport. Can the TSA then confiscate ALL my luggage??

some of you folks just like to complain no matter what.

And some people just like to 'feel' safe, despite whether or not they actually 'are' safe.

Anonymous said, "...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085K0BVU?&tag=shopwiki-us-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325Do you think about what the pepper spray container may look like? Or has critical thinking gone out the window and you only look to vilify?"

When you posted this link in a comment on another blog entry, I pointed out that that device has a label on it that says Pepper Spray. I'm not sure why you don't research the things you post.